Sellers Are Becoming More Aggressive in Pricing

Sellers Are Becoming More Aggressive in Pricing

Daily Real Estate News |
Friday, May 09, 2014

More home sellers want to get aggressive with the pricing of their home. Forty percent of sellers say they plan to price their homes above market value, according to the latest Redfin Real-Time Seller Survey of 1,128 active home sellers across 25 U.S. cities.

That can be a risky strategy and backfire, says Paul Reid, a Redfin Riverside area real estate professional. “Buyers this year are far less tolerant of overpricing, and homes that aren’t priced appropriately are likely to sit on the market until the seller is forced to reduce the price,” says Reid about the survey results. “Buyers often interpret a price drop as a sign there is something wrong with the home, leading some to negotiate even more aggressively or lose interest altogether.” In Riverside, 30.4 percent of homes for sale had seen a price drop as of March, compared to nearly 21 percent last spring.

Fifty-one percent of home sellers say they plan to price their home in the middle range based on local comparable sales. About 8 percent say they plan to price their home low.

Thirty percent of sellers surveyed say that rising prices over the past year has made them feel more confident about the security of a home investment. Sixty percent said that the rising prices have not changed the way they feel about their home as an investment.

While more sellers say it’s a good time to sell, they do have some concerns when finding their next house. Sellers’ top concerns are affordability, competition, and low inventory in finding their next home, according to the survey.